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Florida Travel: The joyous Art Deco delights of South Beach

MIAMI — There are wavy, parallel lines running just below the roof of the stately, white Congress Hotel building on Ocean Dr. Vertical columns rise up and sprout into a Mexican/central American floral design. Large, black, art-deco letters spill down the front of the building, which is designed to resemble a movie marquee.

South Beach tour guide Paula Fletcher, a colourful and conversational sort with a fabulous British accent, turns to my tour group. “Isn’t this stunning,” she says, as if taking her first-look at the property. “I call it Aztec meets Egypt meets Hollywood.”

A few minutes later an engaged Fletcher is marching us through the riotously colourful Art Deco district of South Beach, pointing out structures built to resemble prows of a cruise ship or examples of Mediterranean revival buildings with deep red tile roofs. She’ll point out pure white Edison hotel with its pale blue, salmon pink and butter yellow trim, where Clark Gable was billeted during his time in the armed service.

“He was always bothered by autograph seekers so they kept moving him around,” she explains.

Over on Collins Ave. she’ll pause in front of The Webster and point out its sleek, pink and blue neon signs. It’d make a lovely hotel but instead it’s home to some of Miami’s most exclusive designers, including Stella McCartney and Tom Ford.

Colourful as things are today, both in terms of night life and actual paint jobs, it wasn’t always this way. When they were built, mostly from 1923 to the early 1940s, all of what today is Pepto-Bismol pink and Delft blue and lemon yellow was pure white.

It’s hard to believe now but this part of South Beach was something of a backwater not long ago. During his introduction to the tour, guide Kenn Finkel explained that the area was filled with seniors in the 1950’s and 60’s.

“Folks would take their folding, metal chairs and go the beach for the day. Then they’d trudge back to their apartments and sit in a row on the front porch all night, telling stories.”

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There was talk in the 1970s of knocking down the dilapidated Art Deco buildings and putting up massive high-rises. But locals formed a resistance group and the revival began. New businesses moved in. Pastel paint cans littered the sidewalks and hotels and cafes reopened as folks realized just what they had.

Today there are some 800 structures of historical significance; Art Deco and Mediterranean Revival and Miami Modern, all protected from jackhammers and wrecking balls. It’s the largest collection of this style of buildings in the world, and it’s a huge draw for architecture lovers.

It’s also an area filled with wild stories.

Fletcher points out the Hotel Victor on Ocean Dr.. She says that when the hotel reopened a few years ago following a big renovation, Puff Daddy showed up. In typical Miami restraint, they had seven live penguins floating on blocks of ice in the hotel swimming pool.

Just up the road is The Villa by Barton G. It’s formerly the Versace estate. Fletcher says the brilliant designer bought the property in 1992 for $2.2 million and spent $30 million building a compound for himself that looks like the kind of sumptuous Italian villa the Medici’s would’ve had in Florence.

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“On July 15, 1997, on his way back from his morning coffee, a madman ran out from the park across the street and shot him right there,” Fletcher tells my group, pointing to the marble steps and polished wrought iron gate.

The Cardozo, which features racing stripes and what look like aluminum hubcaps on the site, is owned by Gloria Estefan. Part of the movie Scarface was shot there. The Tides was a Marilyn Monroe favourite when she was hanging out with Joe DiMaggio.

Today if you pass by the Clevelander on Ocean, a 1938 Art Deco gem, you’ll probably hear pounding music at the outdoor bar and spot dancing girls gyrating steps from the sidewalk.

“That,” Fletcher says, “is the highest grossing bar in Florida.”

No doubt.

You can email Travel Editor Jim Byers at jbyers@thestar.ca. You also can follow him on Twitter @jimbyerstravel.

JUST THE FACTS

TOURING Art Deco tours are offered daily from the Art Deco visitors Center at 10th and Ocean at 10:30 a.m. and Thursday at 10:30 and then 6:30 p.m. A 90-minute tour is just $20. They also have self-guided audio tours with an iPod. Miami Modern (MiMo) and gay/lesbian tours of South Beach also are available. mdpl.org. 305-672-2014.

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